


Just One Kiss

by ScarletWinter2478



Category: Bucky Barnes - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Budding Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 08:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12362130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletWinter2478/pseuds/ScarletWinter2478
Summary: Bucky has a new partner, at least for the next couple of days.  Her name is Claire and she can read minds... just what he needs.  They are on a two day training mission and things aren't going well.   His gruff words belie his true feelings however, and she picks up on that, without even trying.  Will they be able to set aside their jumbled feelings and work together as a team?A kiss that doesn't happen sets the stage for things to come.  Sometimes, just one kiss is all it takes.





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very short story that I had fun throwing together. I hope you like it! Please comment if you do, or even if you don't!!

Thunder rumbled ominously, shaking windows in their frames as rain pelted against the glass. An occasional flash of lightning lit the cabin like a lazy strobe light making its final rounds. Now and then a drop or two of water would work its way down the soot encrusted chimney and splash into the flame below. With his enhanced hearing, he would notice the soft hissing sound each time the drops landed. Sitting in the well worn leather chair, certain that she was unaware, Bucky stared openly at the woman curled up on the small couch, showing him her back. Spread on the hearth and on the backs of a couple of kitchen chairs, were several items of clothing laid out in an effort to dry them quicker.

It was the end of the first day of a two day training mission. To say it had been a difficult day would be an understatement on the grandest of scales. Everything that could go wrong had and he, admittedly, had been very hard on her. He kept telling himself it was for her good, to keep her focused and possibly save her life in the future; and although that was indeed a part of it, there was more to it than that and he knew it. He didn’t want to be here with her; certainly hadn’t asked for this assignment. But Coulson, who had personally brought this woman to Stark, had pleaded her case, assuring Tony that Claire’s abilities and temperament were a perfect fit for the Avengers. He explained that she had powers and gifts that had been honed by Charles Xavier, but she could never quite fit in there. However he believed that certain aspects of the Avengers work was low key enough to benefit from her strengths. How exactly that was supposed to work, Bucky wasn’t sure. At any rate, Tony must have found some humor in teaming the two of them together; the soldier who didn’t talk much with a woman who could pretty much read minds. Very funny Stark.

It’s not like he, Sgt. James Buchanan Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier, expected things to ever be easy or to go his way. Life had been an extended nightmare of pain and consequences for him and he had learned over the years with HYDRA that in the grand scheme of things, he was worth absolutely zero. He had been nothing more than a puppet on a string, used in dangerous situations as an asset that was as expendable as any dirty napkin. He’d had a life before all of this, but it was so long past it didn’t even feel a part of him; of who and what he had become. But none of that was her fault.  
  


She was angry with him right now… her cold-shoulder posture making that very clear. He inhaled a deep breath, held it for a moment then exhaled slowly. She had found a towel to use as a turban to wrap her wet hair in; and a lightweight blanket to cover her bare skin while waiting for her clothes to dry. He didn’t think she was sleeping, but even if she wasn’t he didn’t want to talk to her; although he knew how childish that sounded, even to himself. He wondered if she was reading his thoughts at that moment… what would she think of him? He had very little good to say about himself and he had done nothing to prove otherwise in her eyes. And why did he even care what she thought of him?

Suddenly, Claire sat up and turned to look at him, and he KNEW she had felt his eyes on her. He still didn’t know whether or not she knew what he was thinking, even though Steve had assured him that she didn’t just go around invading people’s brains without them knowing it, but for some reason he felt guilty... and exposed. Bucky was staring at her so intensely that Claire was almost afraid to move. Those remarkable blue eyes, eyes that no man should possess, bore into her until she could take it no more…

“What?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper, almost a hiss, “What did I do now?”

Somewhat surprised by her reaction, he said the first thing that came to mind, “You’re awake…”

Believing that he must be taunting her in some way, her eyes quickly scanned the room and landed back on him. “Yes,” she replied, thinking that was the safest answer. She leaned forward, to grab her thin t-shirt from the back of the chair. It was dry and warm from the heat of the fire and she attempted to pull it on, forgetting about the towel that was keeping her head warm and hopefully limiting some of the tangles and frizz that would come with no blow dryer on hand. Of course the shirt caught the top of the towel, knocking it sideways and leaving her in an uncomfortable position with her arms stretched above her head, face half covered by the shirt, towel dangling, as her lacey white bra and ample breasts were on full display for the man who sat and watched wide eyed across from her.

To her credit, she did manage to free her arms, cover herself and wrench the treacherous towel completely off in one fairly smooth move. Having had just about all she could take for one day, she gave him a look that could have stopped the Hulk in his tracks. Wisely, Bucky said nothing as he stood and walked to the window, lifting the edge of drape to peer outside; willing himself not to smile. When he turned back to face her, he was surprised to see that she had left the couch and was stretching to reach something in one of the kitchen cupboards. If nothing else, she was quite stealthy. Again, he had the best view in the house as she had not yet put on her still-damp pants and her t-shirt covered little more than the top of her silky panties. He closed his eyes and out of habit, chewed on his bottom lip before clearing his throat to ask her what she was looking for.

“I was hoping to make something hot to drink. I found this box of tea bags and now I’m searching for sweetener.” Although she tried to sound unaffected, her voice betrayed how dejected she actually felt.

Thankfully they had found the switch to the pump and had running water, but the water heater seemed to be out of order. Bucky found a box of matches and lit the pilot light on the stove so they could heat the water. Opening his backpack he pulled out several small containers of rations. Claire gave him a questioning look, and he shrugged and said, “Chow time…” Giving him a small grimace she held up a huge can of peaches she had found in the cupboard during her earlier search and asked, “What do you think?” He had heard her talking to Nat about the so called ‘rations’ and how awful they tasted. Thinking he could do this one small thing to for her, he nodded and was rewarded by an angelic smile that she had never graced him with until now. He kind of like it. A lot.  
  


Soon, they were seated on the floor in front of the fireplace dining on canned meat and potatoes with sugary sweet peaches for desert and plenty of hot tea… not his choice, but it was that or plain water. They had ‘borrowed’ utensils and a couple of paper plates along with the peaches and tea. Not the way he would normally do things, but he couldn’t come up with a valid reason to tell her no. Neither of them would ever be called ‘orators’ but they did manage to carry on a somewhat normal conversation. He saw her eyeing his metal arm and said, “It’s not polite to stare.”

“Oh! I’m sorry… maybe you should remember that the next time you are gawking at my ass.”

Her out of the blue, totally direct response was so unexpected that he did something she had yet to hear. He threw his head back and laughed out loud. It was a beautiful, contagious sound and she couldn’t help but giggle along with him. Thankfully, she HAD pulled her mostly dry pants on before they sat down to eat. After a few minutes, it grew quiet again and he asked her what had happened with the ‘x-men’ group that kept her from fitting in.

She hesitated, but finally she replied, “umm…I don’t mean this in a bad way at all, but I don’t know how else to say it; they are all so over the top… It seems that everything they do is so extreme. I can’t, I mean I don’t **want** to be that way, not all the time.” Claire had been at the Xavier Institute for several years learning to better understand, control and eventually use her telekinesis, telepathy and empathic abilities in a controlled environment. She wasn’t as powerful as Wanda, but she could gather important information with the smallest touch of a person or their belongings. And being able to psychically draw people or things near or push them away from her when called for, came in pretty handy too.

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean. There are some pretty odd characters in our little group. You have met Banner…right? And there’s always Thor who visits other universes with just a wave of his hammer. That seems pretty extreme to me. And there are others too.”

“Right, I get that. But, there’s also you and Nat and Clint and Sam and Steve… “Special? Yes… but normal too. God, that’s awful of me to say isn’t it? I don’t mean the others are NOT normal, but in a very real sense, they aren’t, not really. Crap... I guess when it gets down to it, I’m not EXACTLY normal either.”

Her face was suddenly a mask of misery and without thinking; Bucky reached out and took her hand. “Tell me, what IS normal these days? Is there any such thing left in this new age? Or is extreme the ‘new normal’? I don’t even know.”  
  


His hand was huge, long fingers, so warm and strong, but still smooth and gentle; the way he held hers was tender and… suddenly she felt his turmoil. She didn’t want to, wasn’t trying to. It was his touch that had set her psychic/empathic abilities off. Jerking her hand away, she covered it by quickly standing and picking up the little bit of trash they had made. He got up and followed her, stopping right behind her at the counter. She froze as his thoughts and feelings were now practically screaming for her to open up and listen.

Turning to face him, Claire looked into his eyes and saw it all. Felt the years of pain and suffering, the fear and hatred, the sadness and the loss. It was all so clear to her, she wanted to hold him and comfort his aching soul. To her utter dismay, she found herself drawn to him in a very different way as well. She hadn’t been with many men in her life, so she didn’t have a lot to compare these feelings to, but she felt a weakness in her knees and a tremor in her core like she had never known.

“What is it? Did I say something to upset you?”

Claire shook her head and looked away, “No… not at all.”  
  


Bucky could feel the heat radiating from her body; could see that she was uncomfortable and didn’t want to look directly at him. He reached out to touch her cheek, not even aware that he was going to do it. She gasped softly at his touch and then lifted her eyes to his. His mind exploded with warning signals. This was NOT supposed to happen. This was not the time for it. They were supposed to be ‘on mission’, even though it was just training. He was supposed to be in charge, setting an example and … he couldn’t look away from the deep pools of her golden brown eyes. God! She was beautiful! Why hadn’t he noticed that before now? And even with the crap they had been through that day, the running, climbing, sweating, arguing and finally the downpour that had drenched them; she still looked like a delicate flower… with wet, slightly frizzy hair.

Claire had to remind herself to breathe. This, this was not what she had been expecting. The day had been so awful she figured they wouldn’t even speak unless they absolutely had to. And now, here he was, standing before her with his hypnotic blue eyes, those perfectly shaped lips and this powerful animal magnetism drawing her in; all of this covering the heart of a wounded soul. She was completely torn between being just a little bit afraid of him and wanting him to touch her again…

 

She had been ‘smitten’ with Bucky from the day she arrived at the Avenger’s tower and she had scolded herself many times over the past few weeks about having these romantic notions for a man who only spoke to her when the situation required it or during training sessions for weapons use and self-defense. He never smiled and had shown no interest in her outside of those sessions… and yet she still found him strangely attractive, even beyond his unreasonable good looks. She didn’t know what it was about him, but there was no sense in denying it; at least not to herself.

Time seemed frozen as they gazed into one another’s eyes, each trying to read what the other wanted... Slowly, Bucky moved his hand to lightly touch the back of her neck as he leaned in closer, his warm breath washing over her mouth. Dear God, she wanted this… so much that it hurt. That being the case, it hurt much worse when he suddenly let her go and stepped back with a soft “sorry” and then walked away as he mumbled something under his breath, leaving her to stand there alone as he stomped to the door and went outside.

She had no idea what had just happened, but she knew she couldn’t face him again that night. As small as the cabin was, it boasted 3 bedrooms; two of them on the main floor and a very small sleeping area in the loft above. Claire grabbed the blanket she had wrapped herself in earlier and climbed the stairs to take a look. The owners of the place must have been there somewhat recently, because there weren’t even any cob-webs and no musty smell at all. She patted the bed from top to bottom, just to make sure that it was completely unoccupied, then climbed in and rolled up in a tight ball. She was so embarrassed. What was wrong with her? Was she that awful? Had she just been imagining that he was feeling the same attraction that she had been? What good were her abilities if she couldn’t even get this right? What ELSE could go wrong? Frustrated, she didn’t think she would be able to rest, but as exhausting as the day had been; it was only a matter of minutes before the gentle waves of sleep washed over her, pulling her in and holding fast until morning.  
  


Outside, leaning against the corner of the cabin, Bucky smoked one of his last two cigarettes. He had walked the perimeter a couple of times, laid out the game plan for tomorrow in his mind over and again, rehashed that day’s events more than once and finally stopped here to gather his thoughts before going back inside. What the hell was wrong with him? Ever since his decision to join with Capt. America and the Avengers he had felt like an outsider. He supposed that may be a pretty normal reaction to joining a ‘group’ that already knew each other so well. But for some reason, he could not let down his guard, could never really feel like a part of the gang… not even with Steve, not really. There was this wall that he himself had built over the years. No one was allowed to pass over it, through it or around it. It had been built at first, for self-preservation, but eventually, he grew to like the comfort of living in his own mind, as lonely and unhappy as it often was.

So now, now that he was free of HYDRA and the Russians, out in the open in the bright sunlight, when he should be able to find some semblance of happiness, he only felt regret, guilt and a deep sense of unworthiness. He was making his required visits to the shrink, but honestly his pain was so deep and such a part of him; he wondered what he would be without it? Did he even deserve to be without it? Did he really WANT to be without it?  
  


The soft sprinkles that had been falling had turned to raindrops and now with a loud clap of thunder, another downpour. He went back inside, prepared to apologize to Claire if need be and was relieved to find that she had turned in for the night. He settled out on the couch in front of the fireplace. It was not nearly wide enough to allow him to stretch out comfortably, and that was okay. He preferred to be on the edge of sleep, ready to move quickly if the need arose. He did remove his vest, outer shirt, and boots and grabbed a pillow from one of the bedrooms…that was all the luxury he needed. As he lay there, between the thunder and gusts of wind and rain, he could hear her mumble in her sleep. She tossed and turned a lot and he felt a pang of compassion. Apparently she was battling a few demons of her own.

 

 


	2. Day Two

 

Waking to the sound of Bucky tending to the fireplace, making sure the embers were completely extinguished; she stretched and yawned, so he would know she was coming down from her perch. He gave her a sideways glance and said, “I got the water heater lit. You should have at least a little warm water by now.’” “Thanks” was all she said as she walked past him to the items of clothing that he had laid across the back of the couch, picking up her shirt, socks, and utility vest. Grabbing her boots, she walked past him again and went down the short hall to the bathroom, where she cleaned up as much as she could and stared into the mirror, wondering what might have happened last night if she was any other woman? If she was as beautiful and experienced as Natasha or Daisy or Agent May, would he still have pulled away from her, from just one kiss? She was pretty sure things would have gone quite differently.  
  


With a sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair, satisfied that it wasn’t a complete tangled mess, she used a scrunchy and pulled it back into a pony tail. Standing up straight she raised her chin and stepped out into the hall and met him in the kitchen. He handed her a couple of protein bars and a big cup of semi-hot tea. She took it from him without looking in his eyes and again she muttered a small “Thank you,” pulling out a chair and sitting at the table.   She could see that he had been up for some time. Didn't say much for her "spidey senses".. did it? In fact she had slept so soundly, she hadn’t heard him come in after his quick exit the night before. At any rate, it seemed clear that he was ready to move out and had simply been waiting on her.  
  


She wolfed down one bar and dropped the other one into one of the many pockets on her vest. Drinking several swallows of the tea, which he had even remembered to sweeten for her, she stood saying, “You should have woke me. I’m sorry you had to wait.” Unable to avoid it any longer, she looked him straight in the eye and was once again struck by how attractive he was.

“I would have if we needed to hurry. We have plenty of time. In fact, we came far enough last night that I think we will beat Steve and … what’s his name? Chester? I think we will grab that red flag and make it back to the pickup site well before they do.” He was trying to ignore the things that did or didn’t happen the night before.

Claire couldn’t help but smirk as she said, “Victor. His name is Victor.”

“Really? I’m thinking its Chester... but maybe you’re right. Either way, we are still going to win this little race.”

He flashed a smile at her and she smiled back before she remembered how hurt and embarrassed she had been the previous night. Looking away, she stood and grabbed her pack from the corner; sliding her arms through and fastening it tight in the front. Bucky grabbed the cup she had been drinking from, rinsing it in the sink and placing it on the counter. He opened the utility closet and turned the hot water tank off, then grabbed his pack and joined Claire on the porch.   He really, really wanted today to go better, and was determined he was going to try and remember that this was her first time ‘in the field’ after only minimal onsite training.  
  
  


Just as Bucky had predicted, they were able to locate the final flag needed to complete that part of the ‘mission’ in little more than an hour’s time. It was tied to a small limb about half way up a pine tree. He paused for a moment and looked around. Something didn’t feel right. After the previous days rain, today had dawned warm and very humid. Claire was fighting off gnats and mosquitoes and appeared to be fed up with the whole thing. When he spoke to her softly, she jumped in surprise.

“Claire… can you… do you sense anyone else here?”

She looked at him and was about to tell him AGAIN, that it didn’t work that way, when suddenly she DID feel something. Someone was near, watching them. Her eyes grew huge and before she could answer him, a splat of yellow paint appeared on his left arm. Moving faster than anyone she had ever seen, he grabbed her and pulling her down they dove behind a large boulder covered with moss. As they crouched there, he looked her over to make sure she hadn’t been “shot”; then motioning for her to be quiet and stay put, he made his way silently through the brush; coming up behind Steve and his recruit, Victor. With gentle squeezes of the trigger he landed two shots on the Cap; one shoulder and one leg, effectively taking him out of the picture. His grin turned to a frown when he tried to get a shot off at Victor only to find that his weapon would not fire. Victor stood in the open then, aiming nervously at Bucky, when a bright pink splotch appeared on the younger man’s chest.  
  


Claire stepped slightly out from behind a tree, holding her weapon exactly as he had shown her the day before, calling out to him to see if he was ‘okay’. Even though she had disobeyed his directions to stay put, he couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face as he looked down at Steve and Victor and with a mock salute, he took their guns from them, nodding at his partner as they returned to the pine tree to retrieve the flag. All that was left to do now was to make their way to the pickup site.   
 

About a quarter of a mile from the site, a pretty good sized chunk of the road had washed out, presumably due to all of the rain from the day and night before. It was passable if you had the stride of a 6 foot tall man with thighs of betrayal and super soldier serum… but she was just shy of 5’5” and most of her height was in her body, not her legs; nothing super about that. A small stream of slimy mud still ran across the bottom of the wash and there was nothing to hang on to, should one try to climb down on this side and up the other. They stood side by side looking at this latest obstacle in disbelief.   Shaking his head, Bucky removed his pack and tossed it across to the other side. Then motioning for Claire to take hers off, he tossed it over as well.

“Do you trust me?” he questioned her softly.

Looking into his eyes, she saw that he really needed her to say yes. She nodded and he said “Good” taking her hand, leading her back from the break a few yards to get a running start. He grabbed her wrist in his left hand and told her to hold on as tight as she could. He saw the fear in her eyes and said, “We can do this.” Not giving her time to think about it he said, “Ready? Go!” and she immediately felt herself being pulled forward, as she tried to keep up and suddenly they were practically flying across the ravine and landing on the other side.

He turned his body as they were about to hit the ground, making sure that she landed mostly on him; grunting as they reached the other side. Looking down at him, she asked, “Are you okay?” and he smiled saying, “Perfect.”  
  


They stood and looked back at where they had just been standing, when suddenly the ground beneath them gave way and they immediately slid down the side into the thick goo below. Bucky bowed his head, and gritting his teeth he ground out “Fuck!” Claire stood there with look of shock on her face. He was afraid she was going to lose it, so he quickly grabbed her and started to hoist her up to the road above.

Putting her hands on his shoulders she said, “No… you go first. It will be easier for you to lift me than the other way around.”

Not that he would really NEED her to help to get out, he was none the less proud that she was exhibiting a teamwork mentality and he knew that under normal circumstances she was right, but still he hated leaving her alone in that sink hole for even a minute. The piece of asphalt that they had slid down the hill on was still partially above ground and he climbed to the highest point, then studying the edge of the road above them, he swung his arms back and forth a couple of times and jumped up, catching hold and pulling himself up quite easily. Lying on his stomach he reached down to take her hand, and couldn’t quite reach. He didn’t want to move any further over the edge, concerned that he would end up making things worse.

“Hold on!” he spoke firmly, and then disappeared from her view just long enough to grab a rope from his pack. He quickly made a large, tight knot on one end, tossed that end down, and then wound the upper portion around his arm. He knew her hands were probably slick with mud now and she wouldn’t be able to get a very strong grip so he told her to put both hands right against the knot and to hang on tight.

“Ready?” he asked as he spread his legs and planted his feet for support.

“Yep” was all she said and he started pulling. She did her best to not swing too much; trying to just keep herself from banging into the side of the ditch. As soon as she climbed over the top onto the ground above, they grabbed their packs and moved away from the edge. Sprinting the short distance left between them and the pickup site they arrived just in time to see the quinjet begin its descent from the clouds.

Steve and Victor made it there only a few minutes later and their jaws dropped to see the mud-covered pair. Steve started to ask Bucky what had happened, but the look he got told him that perhaps **now** was not the best time. Clint just kept smiling and whistling the whole trip home, thinking of several jokes he would love to tell.


	3. Worth the Wait

 

Two hours later, they were all back inside the tower, and after a quick shower, Bucky had joined the others in the dining area for a good hot meal. After a short while, he began to wonder where Claire was. He noticed Natasha coming in late, giving him a slight frown. He didn’t know that she had gone to Claire’s room to ask her if she was okay. Hearing the story of the first day and how tough Bucky had been on the younger woman, she was full of sympathy for her. Feeling like there was more to it, she probed a little deeper until she was able to get the rest of the story.

“He… we, had a moment…almost.” Claire said shyly. “Anyway I thought it was going to be a moment, ya know? But he pulled away and stomped out. Sometimes I think he really hates me. I just can’t figure out why.”

Knowing Bucky the way she did, Natasha was certain that was not the case at all. She knew how his brain worked and how unsure he was of himself when dealing with people straight on, rather than from a distance. His experience with HYDRA had taken away his sense of individuality, making him just a cog in the machine. She’d had several long talks with him since his escape and subsequent dealings with S.H.I.E.L.D. He was getting better, but obviously still had a long way to go. After assuring Claire that things were going to be okay… and suggesting that she have a little patience with Bucky, she left the woman to get ready for dinner.  
  


Back in the dining room, Nat cornered Sgt. Barnes and asked him how the mission had gone. He gave her his usual stock responses, some of them little more than a grunt. When Natasha brought up the ‘kiss that wasn’t’ he looked at her dumbfounded. He was surprised and embarrassed that Claire had shared what happened between them with the beautiful Russian spy, but then he thought about it and decided it wasn’t so surprising after all. Claire didn’t have many friends at the tower yet, and Nat had a way of finding things out.

With a sigh he asked, “So… what should I do?”

“Apologize. Explain. Decide how you really feel about her. And tell her. That would be a good place to start.”

Bucky nodded his head, but was looking towards the door as Nat was talking to him. The brunette in question had ignored him altogether as she entered and greeted the group gathered at the table, urging her to join them. With a very tired smile she declined, taking some fruit from the counter and filling a small bowl with it, then grabbed a cold drink, turning to say good night and headed back to her room.

“Now’s your chance Barnes. Do what it takes to make things ‘right’ now, so they don’t get out of hand.” Natasha patted him on the shoulder and joined the others at the table.

 

Claire was sitting on the edge of her bed, plopping grapes into her mouth, trying to find a decent movie on the small television in her room. There was a soft knock at her door and she hesitated for a minute, before putting the bowl down and opening up to find Bucky standing there. Swallowing hard to push that last grape on down her throat, she was immediately on the defensive. Standing there in only her sleep pants and a t-shirt, she felt vulnerable.

“Yes?” she asked him impatiently.

“I… was hoping we could talk,” Bucky felt his blood quicken as he took in her appearance.

Sensing his feelings, she looked down at what she was wearing and back at him with a small frown saying, “Sure,” backing up so he could enter, then pushing the door to, leaving it open a few inches.

“Okay,” she turned to look at him and sighed, “What did I do wrong now?”

Taken by surprise, he squinted and shook his head. “What?... No! Nothing. This is not about the mission, exactly.”

“Oh… what then?” she was really not in the mood to play 20 questions.

“I came to apologize and… explain.” He looked almost as uncomfortable as she felt.

“Apologize?” this was new.

“Yes. I… I realize that I was very hard on you yesterday, pretty much all day. And although you did make mistakes, you did far more things right than wrong. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when you did things right.”

Claire nodded at him, “Thank you for that. Apology accepted.” She smiled softly.  
  


He walked to the foot of her bed and sat on the padded bench that had been placed there. She waited for him to go on.

“umm.. I also wanted to explain, if I can, about the way I acted later.” He looked at the floor for a minute then back at her. “Are you reading my mind now?”

Throwing her head back and closing her eyes, she groaned, “No! Of course not. It doesn’t work like that. How can I make you understand? And even if it did, I wouldn’t do that, especially not to you.”

“It’s just that there is so much bad ‘stuff’ in my head that sometimes it scares even me. I don’t want you to see that part of me.” He paused a bit before adding, “I was afraid if we kissed, you would be able to see the real me, the monster in me. I couldn’t handle that.”

“Bucky, you are not a monster. I DO know that much.” He needed so badly to forgive himself, and she wanted to help him find a way to do it.

With a ragged sigh, he spoke again, “You don’t KNOW that. You want to believe it and I am really grateful for that. It’s difficult for me to open up, to trust people. And you, you have this ability that frightens me … a little. I don’t know how… I don’t know how we could ever, be friends, ever be together. Jesus, I know I’m not making any sense. I really came here to apologize and leave you alone…”

He made a move to stand and Claire put her hand on his shoulder, “Please wait.” As she moved, the air stirred around her and he could smell her soft perfume; it was intoxicating. The feel of her hand against him was warm and strangely comforting.

“Bucky, when you held my hand in front of the fire last night, I couldn’t stop the rush of thoughts and feelings I picked up from you. I wasn’t trying… it just happened. You are not the person you think you are. You are so much more, so much better than you give yourself credit for.”

“You believe that?” he asked, his blue eyes searching hers.

“Yes,” she whispered back, “I believe that with my whole heart.”  
  


Claire sat down next to him then, and they talked. It took a few minutes, but before long, they were actually sharing stories from the past, hopes for the future and maybe even more importantly, what they were feeling in that moment. She even confessed to him how inadequate and undesirable she had felt when he didn’t kiss her.

Bucky took her hand, “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe you would ever doubt that any man would…” he shook his head.

“Thank you,” she whispered, then cleared her throat, “I never thought that you _meant_ to hurt me…” she stood, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable.

He stood beside her and with a tender smile he asked, “I wonder then… if you wouldn’t mind too much… could we try it again?”  
  


She could only nod; her stomach in knots and her throat so tight she couldn’t speak as he placed his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her closer. He lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers, branding her mouth with his, tasting the sweetness of her lips, gently pushing his tongue into her open mouth as his hold on her became firmer and more possessive. She couldn’t stop the soft moan that escaped her when his hand pressed into her lower back, pulling her to his hard body. They continued their passionate embrace, neither of them noticing when Natasha stopped and peeked in the slightly open door; smiling broadly as she watched briefly before pulling the door closed tight.

 

After a few minutes, far fewer than either one of them would have liked, they pulled apart and sat on the bench; neither of them speaking. When Bucky took her hand, Claire turned to look at him.

“I don’t know where we go from here,” he admitted, knowing he should be open with her, because she was going to figure out his feelings sooner or later anyway. “All I know for sure is that I do want us to ‘go’ from here. I want to know you better…I want this...” he waved around the room, “I like this. I like being here with you. I enjoy your company.” He squeezed her hand, “Is that too old fashioned?”

Claire smiled and glanced around the room then back at him, nodding, “This is nice. I enjoy being with you too, when you aren’t grumping at me of course.” Bucky snorted and she continued, “And in the spirit of being completely honest; I admit that I am ridiculously attracted to you, in spite of yourself… and, just so you know, there was nothing old fashioned about that kiss.”

Bucky laughed “Yeah, I guess not. So, how about we start seeing each other? I mean, you know, outside of the tower?”

“Are you asking me out? On a date?” she teased.

“I am. Would you like to go out with me this weekend? Say… Saturday night? We could go eat, see a movie, whatever you want.” He sounded relieved just to get those words out.

“Yes I would … I would love to go out with you…if you can promise me one thing.” She couldn’t stop the seductive little pout, and he couldn’t help but notice it.

He eyed her for a moment as a slow grin spread across his face. “Anything you want.”

Smiling she continued, “I’ll go out with you… as long as we can end our ‘date’ with another one of those kisses.” she raised her brows at him, winking playfully.  
  


Pulling her near, Bucky wrapped his arms around her and growled, “Oh… we don’t have to wait until Saturday for that…” as his lips found hers again and they shared a final, delicious good-night kiss.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know it's ridiculously short, but I hope it was sweet enough to make you smile!!


End file.
